


Summer Love Reunited

by tnh1722



Category: Shadowhunters (TV), The Shadowhunter Chronicles - Cassandra Clare
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Bad Parents All Around, Fake Names, Fluff and Romance, Lightwood Siblings Feels, M/M, Meant To Be, Reunited and It Feels So Good, Wealthy Banes, Wealthy Lightwoods, study abroad
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-18
Updated: 2019-06-18
Packaged: 2020-05-14 08:16:46
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,877
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19269313
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tnh1722/pseuds/tnh1722
Summary: Alec has been studying abroad in Italy for over a year and the Italian professor requires the students to go by Italian names in order to acclimate into the culture easier. Near the end of his trip, he meets a student named Luca. Magnus goes for a six week program during the summer and meets an Italian man named Giovanni.Little do they know, that is not the end of their relationship, maybe just the end of Giovanni and Luca.





	Summer Love Reunited

“Apparently this professor makes you use an Italian name instead of your real name to immerse yourself in the culture or something like that,” a student from a few seats in front of Magnus said. 

“Great, as if the language barrier wasn’t hard enough,” another student replied. This started another debate of who would pick what name and what names are more attractive. 

Magnus just rolled his eyes and put his headphones back on. He was excited to study abroad, over the moon actually. He had been saying he would do it since he found out it was a thing in high school. Cat and Ragnor complained about how much he talked about traveling and what countries he would pick. 

Something Magnus forgot to consider was the financial portion of studying abroad. He applied for scholarship after scholarship until he finally got one the summer between his sophomore and junior year of college. He had received a fully funded six week trip to Italy to study the language and a course of his choice. He had to choose when he arrived and he was still stuck between fashion design and international business. 

Back home at NYU, Magnus has a double major in both topics. His father only knows about the business major and Magnus intends to keep it that way so his father will continue to pay for his schooling. Magnus received a full scholarship to the school of arts for fashion and he explained his situation to the Dean who was very understanding of the situation. 

The Bane family was actually incredibly wealthy, but Asmodeus refused to give Magnus money for anything he deemed unnecessary such as studying abroad. Asmodeus is under the impression that Magnus will take over the family business of financial planning and investment advising, which is the last thing Magnus wants to do. Magnus is just keeping up the facade until he turns 21 when he will receive his trust fund from his father and his inheritance from his mother’s will.

Magnus wants to own and run his own fashion line, something that he knows his father will never support. Convincing Asmodeus to pay for an international business degree instead of finance was hard enough, but Magnus made his case for adding international marketing and investment to the business. Magnus also knows that his father will want a full report of his studies while in Italy and making up an international business course will be much more difficult than actually attending one. 

Before Magnus could finish his thought process, the plane was landing and their trip leader was already giving instructions on what to do next. He searched around for his carry on and made his way out of the gate to find the class meeting spot. There were signs everywhere for different school classes and tourist groups so it was overwhelming to look at. 

Once he found his group, his focus instantly shifted to the guy holding a sign for the NYU class. He was one of the most gorgeous people Magnus had ever seen. He was tall with dark hair and striking hazel eyes, a beautiful tan on his skin and a nametag that read Giovanni. Magnus knew that somewhere around him his trip leader was talking, but he couldn’t break his focus away. 

Giovanni started to speak to another leader in perfect Italian leaving his group entranced. It seemed he was not the only one who had taken an interest in their new Italian teacher. As the group leaders led them out of the airport, Magnus did his best to stay close to this Giovanni guy to try and find out more about him. 

The students were quickly shown to their rooms and given schedules of their class times. There was time allotted for going out into the city and group meals so Magnus was hoping the leaders came along during those times. Giovanni seemed like he was around the same age as the rest of the students and Magnus was going to do everything he could to spend at least one night with this Italian heartthrob while he was abroad. He needed a great story for his friends back home anyway. 

The next day was the first day of Italian class which was supposed to be taught by a professor from Sapienza University, however, the class was led by three teaching assistants, one being Giovanni. Magnus watched him walk around the room to let everyone draw an Italian name out of a hat to go by in class. 

When he got to Magnus, Giovanni handed Magnus a name instead of letting him draw. Magnus looked down and saw the name Luca written with a phone number written underneath. It was an American phone number so he was confused and figured it must have been from another leader who traveled from NYU so he let it go. 

\---

After three weeks on the trip, Magnus had yet to have a single private interaction with Giovanni, but tonight was their first free night that wasn’t planned for them. They could go to any place in the city as long as they didn’t go alone. He heard the majority of the group planning to head to a club and he thought this was his chance to finally talk with Giovanni.

As the group waited for the shuttle, he noticed that some of the leaders were hanging back and talking about a bar up the street. He asked his group leader, Dot, if he could tag along and she was happy to let him come along. 

Giovanni sat next to him at the table and ordered for the table. Magnus was about to start a conversation with Dot when he was cut off. 

“Hey, I am going to sit with some of my girlfriends over there. Do you mind?” Dot asked quietly as she gestured to the three other female leaders that were a few tables over. 

Magnus looked up and realized it would leave just Giovanni at the table with him. “Yeah, of course, go ahead.” 

They spent the rest of the night talking, especially after Giovanni revealed that he spoke perfect, fluent English along with fluent Italian. Magnus thought he could hear a New York accent in his voice, but he told himself that he was just imagining it. As the night went on, the two left alone together before the rest of the group to go talk more in Giovanni’s student apartment. 

The night ended with a heavy makeout session, but it didn’t go farther than that. Magnus was honestly surprised with himself because he imagined it being a one time thing. However, he found himself having morning coffee and after class dinner with Giovanni almost everyday after that. 

They talked about random things from class and the dreams of travelling around the world for both of them. Somehow, talk about home and family never came up. Magnus didn’t want to unload his paternal problems on his new handsome crush and it seemed that Giovanni was more than fine with the deep personal chats. 

Magnus kept having to remind himself that he would probably never see this guy again after the trip. That in itself was heartbreaking as he had quickly fallen for this guy. The end of the trip was nearing and soon enough, he was packing his bags to head home. He was excited to go back and see his friends, sleep in his own bed, spend time with his cat, but he would certainly miss his companionship with Giovanni. He had decided to call it that rather than relationship because that would make it easier on his heart when he left. 

The morning they were set to leave, he found himself knocking on Giovanni’s door one last time with his bags in hand. There was already coffee and a small breakfast set out on the balcony table with a small love note addressed to him next to the plate. The two talked as if this wasn’t the last time and enjoyed their last meal together. 

Dot called him ten minutes later to inform him that the shuttle would be leaving for the airport soon. He met Giovanni at the door of his apartment with a few tears on his waterline. Magnus felt a little ridiculous to cry for a man he had only known for a couple weeks, but the emotions were real. He felt a little better about it when he saw similar tears in the other’s eyes. 

They shared one final emotional kiss followed by a long, comforting hug. Giovanni carried his bag down to the shuttle before saying his goodbyes to the rest of the group. Magnus was quiet for most of the travel home and kept his headphones on so he wouldn’t have to talk to anyone. 

His plane landed in New York and he sulked his way to the gate where he was met with most of his friends waiting for him holding a sign with his name on it. His mood immediately shifted and he welcomed everyone with a huge smile. 

Catarina was the first to hug him, rattling off about how much she missed him and he could never leave her alone with Raphael and Ragnor ever again. His friends from NYU were also there and wrapped him in a warm hug. Clary and Simon both wanted to know about the art and food in Italy while Isabelle was asking him about the people he met and clothes he saw. 

The group all went to dinner along with his friend Maia and Clary’s new boyfriend and Isabelle’s adoptive brother, Jace, who met them at the diner. They talked about his trip and how he was dreading the talk with his father about the whole thing. He left out the part about Giovanni because he wanted to keep that for himself, that and he didn’t feel like crying to all of his friends about the Italian boy he fell for. 

After dinner, they all went back to Magnus’ as his father wouldn’t be home for a couple days. He tried to plan a trip for himself and his new wife, Lilith, for the time frame that Magnus would be gone, but it didn’t work out perfectly. The group ended up having a big game night at Magnus’ and asked him more questions about his trip. 

\---

Nearly a month had passed since his trip and the fall semester at NYU was starting in two weeks. Magnus had told many stories of his trip and finally caved to Catarina and Isabelle about the guy he met. He kept it all very brief, but he still almost cried and found comfort in his two best friends knowing. 

Magnus was organizing some of his clothes that would need to be moved back into his student apartment when his phone rang. He smiled and saw that Isabelle was FaceTiming him, most likely about another outfit opinion. 

“Hello darling, what’s up?” Magnus asked as he continued folding up the jeans on his bed. He didn’t notice his friend’s worried face on the screen looking back at him. 

“Mags! I need your help,” Isabelle rushed out, her tone much more anxious than a normal call. 

Magnus looked up to see her worried face and the background of what looked to be her driveway. “Okay, what’s the problem? Are you okay?”

“Yes, I’m fine, but my car isn’t. Someone backed into it on the street and now it won’t start. I’m supposed to pick up my brother from the airport today and I don’t really want to do it in an Uber. Plus, my brother hates having a driver so he wouldn’t want me to call for one of my dad’s cars-”

“Isabelle! Slow down, it’s okay. Of course I’ll drive. I’ll be at your place in twenty minutes,” Magnus answered calmly as he moved around his room to grab his shoes and wallet. 

“Oh my God, Mags, you are a lifesaver. I love you!,” Isabelle replied happily. “I’ve been wanting you to meet my big brother anyway. I think you two could be friends too.” 

Magnus smiled again at Isabelle’s tone. He had heard her matchmaking attempts before and this was definitely the same intention. “One step at a time, darling. Let’s actually get to the airport first.” 

Isabelle climbed in Magnus’ car as soon as he pulled up, thanking him again for doing this. Their conversation shifted easily into what she was going to wear to the first party back at the start of the semester and which classes they would have together. Soon enough, they were pulling into JFK and making their way to the international gate. 

“Where has your brother been? I don’t know much about him it seems,” Magnus said as she directed them towards the European gates. 

“Oh, he has been studying abroad for the past year. I haven’t seen him since Christmas in person and it’s been horrible. He’s my best friend, but he wanted to travel so much. He finally convinced our parents of why the trip would be good for him and they finally agreed last year. He’ll be a junior this year at NYU. He’s technically pre-law to make our parents happy, but he’s minoring in foreign language. The trip completed all of his minor credits so now he just has law classes left. He doesn’t want to work for my parents’ law firm though,” Isabelle explained while searching the gates for her brother. 

Magnus thought about himself and how that sounded so similar to his relationship with his father. “If you brother doesn’t want to be a lawyer for the family business, what does he intend to do with his degree?”

“He is going to wait until he gets his trust from our parents when he turns 21 and he wants to work in international law with non-profits or the UN. He also said if that doesn’t work out, he would just use his foreign language teaching skills for something,” she responded casually if that wasn’t a ridiculously incredible career goal. 

“Wow, he sounds amazing,” Magnus replied as he tried to process his thoughts. He was scolding himself for not asking about the brother sooner.

“He is amaz - Oh my God, Alec!” Isabelle yelled as she sprinted towards the guy who just stepped out of the gate closest to them. She wrapped herself around him and he held her close, hiding his face her hair. 

Magnus smiled and took a few pictures on his phone for the siblings before he made his way over. His jaw dropped when the man put Isabelle down and pulled his hood back. “Giovanni?” he whispered. 

Alec looked back in a similar state of shock. “Luca?”

“Big brother, this is my friend, Magnus from NYU. His name isn’t Luca,” Isabelle tried to explain but was waved off by her brother. 

“No, he is Luca. That was his Italian name in class. The guy I told you about,” Alec explained quietly as he was still surprised from seeing Magnus again. 

“Wait, no way, this is the guy! Oh my God, why didn’t you tell me?!”

“I didn’t know!” Magnus and Alec responded at the same time, looking at each other with a faint blush. Alec motioned for Magnus to go first. 

Magnus smiled and looked towards Isabelle. “In Italy, we all had to go by Italian names. Mine was Luca, your brother’s was Giovanni,” he said before turning back towards Alec. “Your Italian was so perfect, I thought you were from Italy. I had no idea.” 

“I knew you were from NYU, but I just figured New York is a huge place. I never thought I would see you again,” Alec responded as he stepped closer to Magnus. “I missed you so much.” 

“I missed you too,” Magnus said between the two of them. Alec leaned in and kissed him nearly the same way he had before the split ways in Italy. Magnus felt himself melt into Alec’s arms as he heard Isabelle’s delighted cheering from beside him. “So, I take it your name isn’t Giovanni?”

“No,” Alec looked down with a blush, “It’s Alec, well, Alexander Lightwood.”

“Magnus Bane,” Magnus said back as he extended his hand for a handshake. Alec rolled his eyes and pulled Magnus towards him by the hand for another kiss. 

\---

Two years later, Magnus and Alec had just graduated from NYU and they went on a group vacation with their friends. They showed everyone around Rome and the group fawned over Alec’s perfect Italian whenever they ordered or checked in somewhere. 

On the last night of the trip, Alec and Magnus took their friends to the bar down the street from their student living where they talked for the first time alone. It was the night they had ended up back at Alec’s student apartment and stayed up all night talking. 

After they shared some drinks and a few stories about their study abroad trip, Alec pulled Magnus up from the table and dropped down on one knee. He proposed first in Italian and then in English, at the very table that they first truly met. 

Magnus answered ‘yes’ in every possible language he could come up with.


End file.
